Free and Open Source Software

18652 readers

60 users here now

If it's free and open source and it's also software, it can be discussed here. Subcommunity of Technology.

This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

Gaywallet@beehaw.org

alyaza@beehaw.org

247

Lets contribute to OpenStreetMaps! (www.openstreetmap.org)

submitted 3 days ago by Kualdir@feddit.nl to c/foss@beehaw.org

75 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://feddit.nl/post/33407329

We've all already talked about switching away from google/apple maps to something like openstreetmaps, mapy, tomtom amigo, etc. But all of these services use openstreetmaps (UK non-profit) as a source and they still miss a lot of local data even for bigger cities!

If you have some spare time, think about adding a bit of data to the map with your local knowledge. There's a lot of business data missing that is on google maps like websites, phone numbers and opening hours but also stuff like parking lots and whether they're publicly accessible and free or not. Adding these makes the competition of ALL services using OSM as a source better.

I also use the mobile app https://streetcomplete.app/ and https://every-door.app/ to add data while on my walks, these make my walks more engaging and I actually take longer ones + see new places because of it. Streetcomplete also has a focus on important and easy to collect data with their default filters, and you can choose what you want to contribute.

If you really want to get into the thick of it and contribute more than just simple data you can always check out https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/How_to_contribute and see in which of the many ways you can contribute!

(page 2) 26 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] pound_heap@lemm.ee 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Thanks! TIL about EveryDoor.

[–] Kualdir@feddit.nl 1 points 2 days ago

Enjoy and thanks for contributing!

[–] flora_explora@beehaw.org 4 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Oh nice, I've thought about contributing to osm for a long time but this makes it so much easier to do that!!

I've looked into what I can do in my close vicinity and there are many roads that still miss their width. However, the app suggests to install an app (streetmeasure) to measure the width. This app is however based on Google AR services (that don't work on my degoogled phone. How do you guys deal with that? Do you just ignore those tasks or do you guesstimate the road width by eye?

Oh, and another thing: If you like something to do on your walks, may I suggest also looking into iNaturalist (and the companion app Seek), too. While you are walking around you can find so much stuff out there that you've previously overlooked. When I go through any street now I spot bugs and plants everywhere!

[–] ThePfromtheO@social.vivaldi.net 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

@flora_explora @Kualdir
I think here's the answer for you (from the translations) :tony_laughing: :mastostuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

[–] flora_explora@beehaw.org 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Sorry, what? I don't understand what you mean :/

load more comments (1 replies)

load more comments (2 replies)

[–] Ulrich@feddit.org 2 points 2 days ago (2 children)

If I wanted to add some off-road bike trails to OSM, how would I got about doing that?

[–] christopher@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 days ago

This page has some useful information: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Bicycle

There's a section there about off-road trails

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] themadcodger@kbin.earth 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Another who loves Street Complete. Makes my evening walks less random. I love the idea of using open street maps, but the one thing keeping me on google is the real time traffic redirecting 🫤 I do use organic maps for hikes, it's great for offline. I just wish there were some better option for traffic.

load more comments (1 replies)

[–] kionite231@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 days ago (9 children)

Can't we just scrape Google maps and add things to OSM? 🤔

[–] freeman@feddit.org 4 points 2 days ago

There is an old tradition of mappers deliberately placing very small errors to be able to verify the copying of a map. So no, scraping big chunks is a bad idea. But I sometimes check details on the Gmaps satellite image or streetview.

load more comments (8 replies)

load more comments